Eagles beat Packers in Brazil: Saquon Barkley scores three times as Birds overcome early field issues, turnovers to win opener

It wasn’t the prettiest 63-point NFL game, but the Eagles left Brazil with a 1-0 record after their 34-29 win over the Green Bay Packers. There was a lot of rust, a lot of penalty flags, and some familiar sights from the Eagles defense. But wins are wins in the NFL. Here’s our instant three-up, three-down drill.

Up: Saquon Barkley

Jalen Hurts was at times spectacular and other times mind-boggling bad. He threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns and ran 13 times for 33 yards. But he threw two horrible interceptions — one in the Packers end zone — and held the ball excruciatingly too long at times. But he ultimately led the Eagles to victory and had some tough runs down the stretch, including when he dragged a couple of defenders for a first round in the latter moments.

Hurts got off to an awful start with awful throw on his second pass and was intercepted by Packers safety Xavier McKinney. A drive later, he fumbled when center Cam Jurgens’ snap caught him by surprise. But the quarterback settled down and got into a groove with quick tosses. And then he hooked up with running back Saquon Barkley on a beautifully thrown 18-yard touchdown.

Saquon Barkley’s tenure got off to an anti-climactic start, but he made up for lost time soon enough.

The running back who signed a three-year, $37.75 million contract with the team in the offseason slipped 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage on the opening play of the Eagles’ first drive.

The Eagles got three touchdowns — and nearly a fourth — from Saquon Barkley in his first game since signing with the team this offseason as they beat the Green Bay Packers, 34-29, in their season opener in São Paulo, Brazil.

Jalen Hurts finished with 278 yards through the air and two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. But it was Barkley who stole the show, rushing for 109 yards and two touchdowns and catching two passes for 23 yards and a touchdown.

It appears the Saquon Barkley signing might have been worth it for the Eagles — at least so far.

The former Giants running back is making his Birds debut in Brazil, and has three touchdown before the end of the third quarter. His latest, a short power rushing score, was very different than the first two — a reception in double coverage and an 11-yard scramble — and showed the versatility Barkley brings to the Eagles offense.

The first two Eagles touchdowns of the year belong to Saquon Barkley, the headlining offensive addition for the Birds in 2024. Some questioned whether paying a running back was worth it. In the first game of the year, Barkley was worth every penny.

Some former Giants players shouted out Barkley’s success, since the Giants let him walk in the offseason.

The field conditions in São Paolo are attracting a ton of attention — for all the wrong reasons. Saquon Barkley and some of the other Eagles have already slipped, and the field has impacted drives for both teams. That was a big surprise, since the GrassMaster turf is the same as the turf both the Packers and Eagles use at their home stadiums.

Fans at home also noticed the poor field conditions, including stars like LeBron James and Josh Hart.

The Eagles and Packers are trading blows.

After the Packers jumped out to an early lead, the two teams have exchanged touchdowns — and both of the Eagles' scores have come from offseason acquisition Saquon Barkley.

After turnovers on the first two drives of the season, the Eagles turned things around on their third possession — despite a failed Tush Push.

The Eagles would go for it on fourth down and draw an offsides penalty to pick up the first. A few plays later, Jalen Hurts found Saquon Barkley down the left sideline for the offseason acquisition's first touchdown with the Eagles.

Anyone having flashbacks of Super Bowl LVII?

The condition of the field inside Corinthians Arena is an early story as the Eagles and Packers get underway in São Paulo.

Well, that wasn't how Eagles fans envisioned it.

After the first play of the game to Saquon Barkley went for negative yards, the Eagles found themselves playing catchup. A second-down pass was incomplete, and on third down, Jalen Hurts tried for a deep ball over the middle to DeVonta Smith, but it wound up in the waiting arms of Xavier McKinney.

For the second straight year, Jalen Hurts will donate $5,000 to Philly schools for every touchdown he scores this season through his Keep It Cool initiative. The donations will go toward funding air conditioning in Philadelphia public schools.

Hurts launched his foundation earlier this year, and has been donating air conditioning units to Philly schools since 2023.

The Eagles’ Tush Push, or the Brotherly Shove, is going to have a little bit of a different look in 2024 — and it’s not just because former center Jason Kelce retired.

After some speculation that the play would be eliminated completely, the NFL opted to leave the play the Eagles have mastered more than any other team in the rulebook, but with a bit of a modification. Those doing the pushing now must line up further behind the quarterback, eliminating a scenario where non-quarterbacks are lined up just off the line of scrimmage and immediately pushing the quarterback from behind.

Eagles fan Jesus Nieves from Bucks County, Pa., is hyped to get into the Linc for the team's season opener watch party — but he is even more excited for the broader impact of the Birds in Brazil.

“I think branching out and showing other countries the sport is very beneficial for both countries,” Nieves remarked.

While many Philadelphia faithful traveled to São Paulo, Brazil, Eagles fans tailgating the team's watch party at the Linc for the season opener are happy to be home.

“[Philadelphia] feels like Brazil, though,” fan Markeith Diaz joked. “The sun is out. They might be down there with the Brazilian sun, but we got a Brazilian sun here too!”

The Eagles are in São Paulo for the season opener and arriving in style at Corinthians Arena.

I mean, just look at this suit from DeVonta Smith.

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Ahead of their season opener against the Green Bay Packers on Friday Night at Corinthians Arena at 8:15 p.m., the Eagles announced that they've elevated E.J. Jenkins and Nick Gates from the practice squad.

Jenkins, 25, figures to serve as the third tight end on the game day roster behind Dallas Goedert and Grant Calcaterra. The 6-foot-6, 245-pound tight end played in all three preseason games, posting nine receptions for 66 yards. Jenkins was a 2023 undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech who initially signed with the New York Jets before joining the Eagles practice squad for two weeks last season.

From a story originally published on January 14, 2024...

Jason Kelce leaned back in his chair and tilted his head just enough for Cam Jurgens to hear him.

It’s been 235 days since the Eagles last played a competitive game of football. If you’re looking to kill some time in the five hours before they return to action, we have Bird Box.

Bird Box is a new Eagles-centric game by the Inquirer. The rules are simple: Fill in each cell on the 3x3 grid with a different Eagles player from the past 50 seasons. It’s like Sudoku but with Eagles players instead of numbers.

With just hours until kickoff from Brazil, Eagles fever is rampant around Philadelphia.

That fever extends to the other local sports teams, who are counting down the minutes until the start of Birds football. In honor of the NFL beginning this week, the Phillies all wore NFL jerseys for their current road trip to Toronto and Miami.

On Thursday, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie announced that he will be supporting Brazilian-based autism research with a $400,000 pilot grant.

The news came during a panel hosted by the Eagles Autism Foundation in São Paulo to discuss autism research in the country. More than 120 members of the autism research and scientific community were in attendance.

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Why?

The question is as difficult to ignore as the traffic here in South America’s largest city. It hangs in the air like the smoggy veil of wildfire smoke that has shrouded the sky for much of the week.

Almost exactly a year ago, Jay Wright’s Labor Day weekend was interrupted by a text message from Nick Sirianni.

Got a minute?

X was officially banned in Brazil, its third-largest market, last week, following Elon Musk’s refusal to ban accounts after a court order from Brazilian Judge Alexandre de Moraes. The users were under investigation for spreading disinformation, primarily supporting former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.

Musk also closed the company’s Brazil office following what Musk described as attempts at censorship. Companies must have a Brazilian representative in order to operate in the country.

Tonight, the Eagles will shed their traditional midnight green in favor of a new combo featuring black and white.

Why? As The Inquirer reported last month, it's a nod to the Brazilian soccer team Corinthians, whose stadium is hosting tonight's historic Eagles-Packers game. Their uniforms are also black and white, and their fans hate the color green because of their cross-town rivals, Palmeiras.

Jalen Hurts vs. blitz, crowd noise

After struggling to handle extra rushers for most of last season, the Eagles starting offense will get its first meaningful test against the blitz in a challenging environment.

Patrick Mahomes thought for a moment that the Chiefs were headed to overtime. So did Ravens counterpart Lamar Jackson, who had found Isaiah Likely in the back of the end zone with no time left for a touchdown that appeared to tie the game.

In the end, the NFL’s season opener Thursday night was decided by referee Shawn Hochuli undertaking a video review.

Two of the Birds’ longest-tenured legends, Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox, retired after last season. But they are front and center in the Eagles’ star-studded season hype video, which opens with a phone call between the two of them.

The video plays a capoeira track in the background and has a number of references to Brazil — including a bit where Nick Sirianni gives Dom DiSandro a new jacket with the Brazilian flag, instead of the Italian flag, which he usually wears.

After making the trip to South America, Isaiah Rodgers will miss the Eagles game against the Green Bay Packers Friday night because of a hand injury.

The veteran cornerback, who had a chance to play a meaningful role as an outside cornerback in the Eagles’ nickel packages, was a limited participant in practice all week with the injury but was ruled out after the team’s walk-through at Corinthians Arena on Thursday afternoon.

The Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Green Bay Packers tonight, kicking off the 2024 NFL season in a unique Friday night game taking place in Brazil.

Not only is it the first NFL game to be played in South America, the last time the league scheduled a Week 1 game on a Friday night was when the then-St. Louis Cardinals faced the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 18, 1970.